Business leaders increasingly understand that supporting workforce wellbeing — happiness — is critical for both individual employees and the organization. Balanced, inclusive companies see higher retention rates, lower absenteeism, increased innovation, higher quality of work, and other tangible benefits.
In turn, more and more corporate learning and human resources professionals are integrating training programs that support and build balanced workplaces into their budgets and planning. Online learning through courses from top institutions and organizations cover many related important areas, from inclusivity to collaboration, and are already leveraged by companies around the globe. In fact, there’s even a course from The University of Texas at Austin specifically about how employee happiness translates to success, from individual performance to company culture to the bottom line.
Read on for three additional ways you can use e-Learning content in 2020 to build a happier, more productive workplace and learn more about industry-leading edX courses that can increase workplace happiness and productivity at your company.
1. Implement Inclusivity and Unconscious Bias Training, Especially for Leaders
To remain competitive, organizations must move from diversity to inclusion to increase employee engagement and innovation, and to win the war for talent. To increase the awareness and practices that lead to a more diverse, inclusive workplace, consider courses that specifically drive these behaviors in your leadership alongside learning, such as unconscious bias training, that can support and build an organization-wide culture of inclusivity.
2. Build Communication Skills Across Formats
The importance of communication in the workplace cannot be understated — from written to verbal to non-verbal. Good communication forges productive professional relationships, efficient planning, and can make or break a project before it even starts. Any employee can become a better communicator using courses like Business Communication from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), which covers communications basics (such as writing and conducting effective meetings), while leaders may benefit from more targeted learning. For example, a course from Delft University of Technology specifically addresses communication tactics to gain support from management and motivate teams.
3. Understand Why and How Collaboration is Central to Success
Today’s professionals are required to work in groups to strategize, design solutions, ideate, motivate, manage, and execute. Collaboration may feel intangible, but skills like emotional and social intelligence, team building, and managing conflict are a great way to increase the productivity and happiness of teams. Courses like Empathy and Emotional Intelligence at Work from the University of California, Berkley teaches research-based skills to strengthen empathy and trust while RIT’s Teamwork & Collaboration course, which complements the business communication course, teaches essential teamwork and collaboration skills to lead, build, and motivate teams in the workplace.
Get Started: Leverage e-Learning to Engage and Empower Your Employees
edX offers online courses and programs for all levels of the organization. With edX, your organization can:
- Provide training across the company on essential skills such as inclusivity, teamwork, and communication.
- Equip managers to unleash their teams' productivity, innovation, and overall performance.
- Prepare current and future leaders to establish and drive a strong corporate culture that serves both employees and the company.
Learn more about courses and programs designed to help you and your employees increase productivity and increase happiness at work.
